This Trial Shows the Absurd Things Street Harassers Expect of Women in Public

October 13, 2016 / Barry Deutsch

“She didn’t smile. Not even when I told her to!”

Are you a woman or a person perceived as a woman who experiences street harassment?

Then here’s a comic that illustrates the burden that constant harassment puts on you. Anyone who doesn’t get the problem with street harassment should imagine what it’s like to go through a trial like this one.

Because, as you already know, these accusations and expectations are more than anyone should have to deal with.

With Love,
The Editors at Everyday Feminism

Click for the Transcript

Panel 1

(This panel shows only the title of the strip, in large letters, overlapping a drawing of a judge’s gave.)

TITLE: Trial.

Panel 2

(A courtroom scene, showing a JUDGE, a DA, and a PRISONER.)

JUDGE: What are the charges against this prisoner?

DA: The prisoner is accused of being a woman in public!

Panel 3

(A closer shot of the prisoner and the judge; the judge is angrily admonishing the prisoner/)

PRISONER: Can I say…

JUDGE: No you can’t! You have to be silent!

Panel 4

(A large panel showing the DA as he sternly talks.)

DA: The charge isn’t just being a woman… She didn’t smile. Not even when I told her two! She wouldn’t share her phone number…. She wore clothing I found provocative. She used sarcasm!

Panel 5

(The prisoner angrily speaks up, but the judge and DA yell and interrupt her.)

PRISONER: This is ridic–

JUDGE AND DA: QUIET!

Panel 6

(The DA continues talking, looking serious and reasonable.)

DA: Most damning of all, the prisoner is accused of being unavailable for our immediate sexual use!

Panel 7

(The DA, warming to his theme, spreads his arms wide in the air as he talks.)

DA: By existing in public yet not sleeping with us, this woman flagrantly attacks our masculinity.

Panel 8

(Overcome with emotion, the DA lifts his clenched fists to his face and weeps cartoony tears that fly away from his face.)

DA: She even does this right in front of our male peers! Oh the humiliation!

Panel 9

(The judge leans forward and points at the prisoner as he speaks. The DA looks smug.)

JUDGE: I’ve heard enough! The prisoner is guilty!

PRISONER: What about my defense?

Panel 10

(A close-up of the judge as he raises his gavel and looks angry.)

JUDGE: I don’t want to hear it! I will now pronounce your sentence….

Panel 11

(The scene has completely switched to a slightly grubby street; There is an alleyway in the background, with trash and litter. There is a bench, with two guys in very casual dress on it, both yelling after a woman who is walking by them quickly, her eyes firmly fixed on the ground in front of her. The two guys are the same guys who have been the Judge and DA in the earlier panels, and the woman was earlier seen as the Prisoner.)

DA: Hey! What’s your name?

JUDGE: Give us a smile.

DA: You got a number?

JUDGE: Don’t ignore me!

DA: We didn’t want you anyway!

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Barry Deutsch creates political cartoons with the help of his supporters on Patreon. He also creates Hereville, a comic about an 11-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl who wants to fight monsters, and (with Becky Hawkins) SuperButch, a comic about a lesbian superhero in the 1940s. Check out his blog and follow him on Twitter and on Tumblr.